Shoplifting continues to be a major concern of retail stores. Particularly with regard to electronic and other high-priced items, retailers continue to try and find effective product theft deterrents. However, wrongdoers are constantly coming up with methods of circumventing the latest theft-prevention devices offered by retailers. For example, some retailers have introduced theft deterrent devices such as cables, also known as “spider wraps” that are wrapped around a product and coupled to an electronic sensor that sounds an alarm when there is an attempt to remove the product from the wrap before the product has been purchased and the sensor deactivated. These devices are cumbersome to use and may not be able to be secured to packaging having an odd shape. Other “safer” or “keeper” devices house the product but require additional labor for their application and removal. Retailers are seeking an easier solution that can effectively display their items for sale, prevent the unauthorized removal of items within the package, and decreases in-store labor for the application and removal of these protective devices.
Retailers have turned toward wrapping their products with material containing an audible and/or visual alarm. The wrap is designed to initiate an alarm when an unauthorized removal is attempted. However, wraps often detract from the appeal of the product thus resulting in possible loss of sales. Additionally, wraps are cumbersome to use, hard to physically manage, difficult to attach to items, and difficult to remove at the point-of-sale.
“Safer” or “keeper” products are devices that house items in order to provide a visual deterrent to would-be shoplifters. The concept of a safer is to allow a customer to view the product therein, but to provide enough protection so that a thief cannot access the product. Safers are typically designed for small, packaged goods. There are two types of safers, fixed safers and adjustable safers. Although adjustable safers allow for size adjustments in order to accommodate different-sized products, they do so in only a single direction. In other words, a typical safer can be height adjusted but cannot be adjusted in width. Others can be adjusted in width but cannot be adjusted in height. Thus, many safers that might accommodate small, rectangular products, cannot be used for larger or square-shaped products. Therefore, retailers end up with many different-sized and different-shaped safers in their inventory. Further, since safers only adjust in single direction, if the item is not held tightly within the safer e.g., the store employee selects the wrong size safer, the item can be removed and stolen.
Currently, safers may require a special detaching device at the Point of Sale (“POS”). Retailers are seeking a single detacher at the POS to decrease confusion by employees and to speed up customer check-out.
In addition to wraps and safers that are adjustable in only one direction, other retailers use the old-fashioned method of preventing theft of their expensive products, namely, locking these products in a protective case behind a checkout counter. Unfortunately, this method requires a sales associate to access the items that are protected by a lock and because of their location behind the counter or locked in a cabinet, render the item inaccessible to a prospective customer. Placing items behind lock and key in this fashion requires store personnel to access the item for the customer. If there is no store employee available to access the items, the item typically does not get sold, thus resulting in high inventory levels for the retailer, decreased revenue, and unsatisfied customers.
It is therefore desirable to provide an adjustable product protection device that can be adapted for different sized and shaped products, that does not obscure the manufacturer's logo and product description, provides a sufficient deterrent for would-be shoplifters, can be adjusted in many directions and is easy for store employees to remove at the POS when a product is being legitimately purchased.